Pain and Happiness
by OhJay
Summary: Zack though all the pain would go away when he died, but it just got worse with time. Follows the end of Crisis Core to end of Advent Children Complete. ZackxAerith, mild CloudxAerith, implied CloudxTifa.
1. I Death

_**I Death**_

All he had wanted to do was go home. He risked his own life to see her again, to come back to Midgar and see her smiling face when he walked in that old church in the slums. Every time it felt like he wasn't going to make it, his thoughts of her got him up and going again. He almost made it, he was so close, but then he was killed before he could get there.

Zack Fair would never see Aerith again...

But even his death wouldn't be able to end his love for her, and he would still be able to watch over her through the lifestream. Angeal explained to him that the lifestream allowed him to travel around the planet freely and he would be able to watch over whoever he wanted, but no one would be able to see or hear him.

However he didn't really mind those rules, he had to check up on Aerith after all, to make sure that she was doing alright. She wouldn't be able to see or hear him, but that didn't matter to him. As long as he knew she was alright, he would be able to go on. At least that's what he thought back then.

Of course he found her the first place he guessed to look: The church. He smiled when he saw her there tending to her flowers happily as she hummed a tune he wasn't familiar with. She still wore that pink ribbon that he had gotten her, but she was now wearing a long pink dress with a short sleeved red jacket.

In the corner sat the wagon that he had made for her, and like Kunsel said one of the wheels had broken and never got fixed. It sat there, now old and dusty after five years of not being used. He frowned when he saw this, and wished he could fix it for her.

They both flinched when the church door opened, and turned to see Tseng walking towards her. His expression was unreadable as usual, but Zack had a bad feeling about this. He knew that it was his job to watch over her, but why would he come to her directly? He looked back at Aerith, and judging by her expression she was confused as well.

"I believe these are yours"

He held out a thin small box out to her that was sealed shut with a piece of tape that said **SEALED **on it in bold capitalized letters. She gasped when she saw it as if she knew exactly what was inside.

"My letters!"

"Eighty eight of them" he told her.

She took it from him, and Zack peered over her shoulder to see that it actually appeared to be the rest of her letters to him that he never got.

"Tseng..." she began softly. "Where is he?"

_Don't tell her. _He thought. _Please don't tell her!_

He didn't want her to know that he was never coming back.

"I'm sorry" Tseng said.

"No!" Zack shouted at him even knowing that it wouldn't do any good. "Don't tell her!"

Tseng didn't say anything else after that, he just walked away and left the church, but she knew.

What hurt Zack the most then was being forced to watch her break down and cry, and not being able to do anything about it. He wanted to hold her and comfort her, to tell her that he was still here watching over her, but he couldn't. He wasn't alive anymore.

_**Author's Notes**_

Alright, new story! I've seen plenty of fics where Zack is alive and stuff, and as much as I love those, there's just not enough where he's dead, and I thought this would be interesting. I know it's really short so far, but it will get longer I promise. However this fic is only going to be 8-9 chapters, so it's not going to be a super long one_. _Uh, I think that's about it (It's really late right now so I can't think) so please review! _  
_


	2. II Irony

_**II Irony**_

From that day on Zack spent as much time as he could keeping an eye on Aerith. However he also checked up on Cloud a few times because he was worried about him. He wasn't sure when exactly it happened or why, but somewhere along the way from when he was killed, and Cloud getting to Midgar his memory had gotten seriously scrambled up, and his friend had actually appeared to have taken on his identity.

Apparently he was working as mercenary know, and had taken up a job with AVALANCHE. He had 'followed' him during the first job when they blew up the Sector 8 Mako Reactor, and in frustration had yelled at him to open up his eyes to his past. What was strange though is that he acting like he actually had heard him, but according to Angeal that should've been impossible.

He pondered over it for the next few days, wondering if Angeal had been wrong. Then again neither Tseng or Aerith had appeared to hear him when he was in the church, so maybe it had just been a fluke, Maybe Cloud had just heard something else when he yelled at him. Either way, he wanted to try it out, so while he was walking down the streets of Loveless Avenue one day he paused and shouted the most random thing he could think of, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed. No one did.

Then a bit later on when he was watching over Aerith in the church again, something unexpected happened. They both glanced up at the ceiling when they heard the Sector 5 Mako Reactor explode, then moments later Cloud came crashing down from the roof. Aerith yelped out in surprise and backed up a bit since he was practically right next to her, then calmed down a bit and peered over him. They were both having a strong sense of Deja' vu at all this, and Zack couldn't help chuckling at the irony of it all.

"Can you hear me?" Aerith said softly as she sat down beside him.

Cloud groaned softly, which was a good sign, and appeared to be talking in his sleep.

"Yeah..."

"Back then, you could get by with just skinned knees" Zack commented.

"What do you mean by 'back then'?"

Zack blinked. He could hear him? But then why couldn't everyone else. Still not believing it to be true, he decided to talk to him some more.

"What about now? Can you get up?" he asked.

"What do you mean by 'that time'? What about now?"

"Don't worry about me" Zack told him. "You just worry about yourself now"

"I'll give it a try"

"Oh! He moved!" Aerith exclaimed, glad he was alright.

Zack smiled, now a bit relieved that he appeared to be alright from the fall, but the flower bed had broken it.

"How about that?" he said. "Take it slow now, little by little"

"I know" Cloud said. "Hey, who are you?"

But Zack didn't answer. He wanted him to get his memory back and all straightened out, but he knew that it would be best for him to do it on his own.

"Helllllo!" Aerith called out to him, the same way she had done with Zack years ago. "Helllo!" she repeated.

Cloud groaned again, but then opened his eyes and blinked a few times before sitting up.

"You ok?" She asked as she stood up and brushed herself off. "This is a church in the Sector 5 Slums" she explained. "You fell from the sky; really gave me a scare"

"I came crashing down?" Cloud asked.

Aerith nodded.

"The roof and flower bed must've broken your fall, you're lucky"

Cloud glanced down at the flowers around him for a moment silently, then hopped back up on his feet just like Zack did and dusted himself off.

"Sorry about that" he apologized.

"That's alright" she said.

He watched as the two of them talked for a bit. She told him about her flowers and the Materia she had, then introduced herself as "Aerith the flower girl". Cloud then told her his name and said that he was a mercenary, but by then Zack wasn't paying that much attention. Reno, a Turk had just walked in, and he got a bad feeling about it. Aerith noticed him too, and frowned.

"Cloud, have you ever been a bodyguard before?" she asked. "You DO do everything right?"

"Yeah, that's right" he said now also paying attention to the Turk.

"Then get me out of here," she told him with worry in her voice. "Take me home"

"Ok, I'll do it" he told her. "But it'll cost you" he warned.

"Well then, let's see..." she said taking her mind of things for a moment. "How about if I go about if I go out with you once.

"What?" Zack said making sure he had heard that right.

She couldn't be serious, could she? And why did she have to use his line?

"That uniform" Cloud said, stepping towards Reno, and the three other ShinRa infantrymen that now accompanied him.. "You're a Turk, a ShinRa spy"

Zack noticed that Cloud's hand was slowly reaching towards his Buster Sword attached to his SOLDIER First Class uniform, and cringed when he noticed how many scratches and dents there were on it already. Cloud wasn't taking very good care of it...

"No wait!" Aerith said, stopping Cloud. "Don't fight here, think of the flowers!"

With that Aerith took his hand and led him towards the back door, where Zack followed to make sure they got out alright.

The back room was in horrible shape. There were floor broads missing, and dust was everywhere. The two of them ran up the stairs where they were welcomed by a few minor monsters, but Cloud quickly cut them all down.

"This way" he said as he easily jumped over a large gap in the floor, but Aerith just shook her head. She wouldn't be able to make it like he did.

"There they are!" Reno shouted, pointing at them from below.

"Alright, I'll hold them off" Cloud told her.

"Make sure they don't get through"

"The Ancient is getting away! Attack!" Reno shouted.

Then the infantrymen fired their guns at her, and rage boiled within Zack. Aerith screamed, then fell down to the floor below while he and Cloud yelled out her name in unison. He couldn't believe it, the Turks were supposed to be protecting Aerith, even Tseng promised him he would, so why the heck was this happening? What had happened to ShinRa?

"Think we killed them? They should've put up a fight"

One of the infantrymen jumped down to where Aerith was, and she cried out for Cloud to help her, which he responded to by pushing a barrel onto him.

"Cloud get her out of here!" Zack shouted, knocking another one of the infantrymen off his feet before he could get to Aerith.

"Aerith this way!" Cloud called out to her as he led her out through the large hole in the roof.

"They're looking for me again..." she said.

"You mean this isn't the first time they've been after you?" Cloud asked.

"No..."

Zack clenched his fist in anger. Why was this happening? What did they want with Aerith, and why couldn't he be there to protect her now of all times? Why did he have to die?

Questions with answers he didn't have. Questions that brought more pain to him.

_**Author's Notes**_

Alright, well first off I hope this chapter wasn't to confusing, and if it was plot wise with the whole no one but Cloud can hear Zack thing, I've got something planned so please just bear with me on this. I took some of the dialogue from the game here and edited parts of it **(I OWN NOTHING) **and I'll be doing that again in this fic. Just so you guys know, Wallmarket is next, and we all know what that means XD _**  
**_


	3. III Miss Cloud

_**III Miss Cloud**_

He made sure Cloud got Aerith home safely before leaving them alone to go find Angeal. He had to talk to him about Cloud being able to hear him, and what ShinRa was doing. It wasn't hard to find him, especially considering he did have to do any searching. All he had to do was concentrate on the person or place he wanted to go, and the lifestream took him there. It was really convenient for him, especially when he had to bounce back and forth between Aerith and Cloud.

* * *

"And you're absolutely sure of this?" Angeal asked when Zack was done telling him what had happened.

"Yeah, he talked back to me and everything"

"Interesting" he said as he paced a bit as he thought it over. "And you said Aerith is the last ancient?"

"Yeah. Does that mean something to you?"

"Well, years ago I read some things about the Ancients. Apparently they could hear and talk to the planet, so it's a bit strange that Cloud can hear you, but she can't"

Zack blinked. It made sense, but at the same time it just made things more confusing.

"So what exactly are you saying?" he asked, trying to put everything together.

"Well," Angeal began. "It could be that since you and Cloud were close friends and he's taken on your identity by mistake that you have a connection, but it's just a theory"

* * *

The next day when he went to check on Cloud and Aerith again, he got a bit of a surprise: Cloud was wearing a dress. A very girly, silky, purple dress with a big red bow in the back. He raised an eyebrow at this wondering what the heck was going on, and couldn't help but chuckling.

"You need a wig" Aerith told him.

Of course at that Zack just burst out laughing at the whole situation, and judging by Cloud's expression he guessed he could hear him again, and was trying to figure out where his voice was coming from.

For the next couple of hours he followed them around Wall Market and got Cloud his wig, as well as some make up, perfume, and some jewelry to complete the look. He also found out that they were trying to get into Don Cornero's place to get Tifa, and Cloud needed to pretend to be a girl to get in.

It made sense, but when he saw Cloud come out of the dressing room he couldn't help laughing again, and while he knew he was probably wishing he was never born, it was just to much, especially when Aerith called him "Miss Cloud". Man how he wished he had a camera.

Then Aerith took her time to change, and came out wearing a cherry red spaghetti strap dress that went a little passed her knees, and her usual braided hair down so it hung down her back very waves from always having it braided.

_Wow..._

He had a hard time not drooling over her, and he noticed even Cloud was blushing and trying not to stare.

They then put their little plan into action, and he followed them to see how it turned out, and to make sure that none of the perverts touched Aerith. They found Tifa in the basement, and she explained that she needed to interrogate Cornero for AVALANCHE, and therefore had to be the girl he picked for the night, but then Aerith said that she and Cloud could be the other two girls, so she wouldn't have to worry about not being picked.

They agreed, but both he and Cloud weren't to happy about it. Zack didn't want Aerith to get involved in this, especially on the off change that she would get picked. Thankfully, that's not how it worked out.

"Woo-hoo," Corneo hooted, jumping up. "I've made up my mind! My choice for tonight is...This healthy-looking girl!" he shouted pointing at Cloud of all people.

Relief swept over Zack and Aerith, and both of them started chuckling

"Wa, wait a sec!" Cloud said freaking out, but then realized he didn't change his voice. "I mean, uh, please wait a moment!" he corrected in a more high pitched female voice.

"Woo-hoo! I love chickies who play hard to get! Yeowza!"

Oh how he had to see how his old friend handled this.

"You can have the other ones!" Corneo told his assistants.

"Yes, sir! Thank you sir!"

Ok change of plan; he had to beat up the guy that was gonna try and get his hands on Aerith.

* * *

Touching things was similar to the way he could travel, but required more focus and concentration. His main thought had to be on the solid object he wanted to touch, otherwise it wouldn't work and he would pass right through it. In this case, it wasn't that difficult for him. Since his main thought at the moment when Aerith was being led down to the basement was "I'm gonna beat the crap out of this guy" he just changed it to "I'm gonna kick this guy in the balls" when he started to chase Aerith around the room when she tried to get away.

So, With the right timing, Zack got in front of him, and gave him a nice kick in the crotch. This of course caught him completely by surprise, and stumbled over from the pain giving Aerith the chance to run upstairs and get away.

She then met up with Tifa (Who had also gotten away) and they changed back into their regular clothes, then barged into the Don's room to see Corneo puckered up within an inch of Cloud's face, which, in turn, was nearly the same shade of red as the bright blinding red walls.

"..."

"Cloud..." Tifa said. "Were you really..."

Cloud quickly shook his head and bolted for the girls.

"What's goin' on? Somebody get in here NOW!" Cornero shouted

"No one'll be coming to help," Tifa said, voice cold.

They made their threats, and eventually convinced him to talk. He told them that ShinRa was planning to break the support system of the Sector 7 plate, they would kill hundreds in the slums just to get rid of AVALANCHE. Zack had a feeling that his days of laughter were over, and he was right.

_**Author's Notes**_

Alright here's the next chapter. Plot wise only the beginning's important, but I just had to do the Wall Market scene. Again I took some of the game's dialogue, but only a little in this chapter. So, please review, and I should update again shortly.


	4. IV Moving On

_**IV Moving On**_

After that things began to be painful to watch. ShinRa succeed in dropping the plate and killed hundreds in the process, including three of AVALANCHE's members. Cloud and Tifa had gotten out in time, along with their leader Barret, but Tseng had broken his promise to Zack about protecting Aerith, and turned her over to ShinRa, and while they had gotten her out, the fact that Hojo had almost gotten his hands on her made his blood boil, and now the world had a much bigger problem to deal with: Sephiroth was alive.

He watched over them as they all decided it would be best to go and look for him, and put a stop to whatever he was planning. A few others joined them along the way, like Red XIII, who they had also broken out of Hojo's lab, and Yuffie, who he recognized as the little girl he saw in Wutai all those years ago, and then was sent on all those stupid missions because of her.

However, he didn't really care that much about the rest of the group, he still focused on watching over Cloud and Aerith, especially now that they were after Sephiroth. He began to notice that the two of them had grown rather close. They talked more often, and he could tell by the way Cloud acted and looked at her that he liked her. He wanted them to be happy, he really did, but it hurt him to see her with someone else. It was then, more than ever that he wished he could be there.

It was also around that time that he decided it would be best for himself not to watch over them constantly, so he distanced himself from them. He wandered the planet a bit, going to places that he didn't get to see much when he was alive, and he also decided to go back to Gongaga to check on his parents.

He had written a few times when he was in SOLDIER, but he actually hadn't been able to visit since he left home at thirteen, and he wanted to know how they were taking his death. He watched over them silently for a few hours, just observing their daily life actions to see how they were. When neither one of them mentioned him, he looked over the mail that was on the table to see if there was any letter from ShinRa saying he was officially KIA, but didn't see any.

However, he was interrupted when the front door opening, and Cloud of all people walked in, followed in by Aerith and Tifa. He blinked in surprise wondering what they were doing here, and why the heck they just walked right in like they owned the place.

"You're a traveler?" his father asked him. "No wait, your eyes...You in SOLDIER?"

"Oh you're right!" his mother said, noticing Cloud's Mako infused eyes as well. "Do you know anything about our son? His name is Zack. It's been close to ten years since he left for the city, saying he didn't want to live in the country." she explained.

"He left saying he was going to join SOLDIER, you ever hear of a Zack in SOLDIER?"

Zack blinked. It didn't make sense, how come they didn't know he was dead? Then he remembered what Cissnei had said to him about not wanting to give his parents bad news, had she somehow prevented them from finding out?

"I don't know" Cloud told him.

He frowned. He had hoped on the off chance that something like this would jog Cloud's memory a bit, but it didn't seem so. Then he noticed the pained expression on Aerith's face, and the tears in her eyes.

"Zack…" she whispered.

"You know him?" his father asked her.

"I remember he wrote us six or seven years ago saying he had a girlfriend" his mother put it. "Could that have been you?"

"That can't…"

But Aerith never did finish her sentence, for she ran out the house crying. Worried, Cloud followed after her to make sure she was alright, as did Zack.

"Aerith…" Cloud began.

"I didn't know he was from this town" she said softly, wiping away her tears.

"You know him?"

"Didn't I tell you?" she asked. "He was my first love"

Cloud was silent.

"Zack, SOLDIER First Class, the same as you" she said.

"Strange" he said. "There aren't many people who make First Class, but I've never heard of him" he explained.

_Yes you have Cloud. _He wanted to say, but held it back.

"It's alright" she told him. "I was just worried because I heard he's been missing"

"Missing?" he asked.

"Five years ago he went out on a job and never came back." She told him. "I even wrote him a lot but he never answered. He was always a real ladies man, so I bet he found someone else…"

There was both sadness and denial in her voice that he picked up easily, but he wasn't sure Cloud did the same. He had grown silent again.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing…" he lied.

"Are you jealous?" she asked. "Hmm? Are you Cloud?"

He still didn't say anything, but apparently she hit a soft spot because he turned away.

"I'm kidding, I'm sorry" she apologized. "I have you now Cloud"

Then she got up onto her tiptoes and gave Cloud a quick kiss on the cheek, and that one moment hurt him the most. He wanted her to live a good happy life, but to see her with someone else was just heartbreaking. Then he remembered what her last letter said, saying she was ready to move on with her life. Maybe it was time for him to move on too.

"Take care of her Cloud" he whispered as he watched them walk away.

That was the last time he watched over both of them, because even if he accepted it, it was still to painful for him to see them together.

_**Author's Notes**_

Just so you guys know, this is pretty much as far as Clerith is gonna get in this fic, the rest is just really implied (same with Cloti). Also, ya'know how I said this is gonna be 8-9 chapters? Well it might just be 7. I was looking at the lay out I planned for it, and I think I'm just gonna combine some stuff to make them a bit longer instead of more short chapters. So yeah, Zack's kinda emo here, but it gets better (He's not gonna go all Cloud emo or something).


	5. V Death and Depression

_**V Death and Depression**_

"You seem distracted" Angeal pointed out a few days later. "Did something happen?" he asked, concern showing in his tone.

"No" he lied, trying his best to hide his pain.

"Zack" Angeal began, placing his hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "It's not healthy to keep your emotions bottled up inside."

Zack sighed, and sat down on the ground. He had been spending most of his time in Gongaga now, not wanting to be hurt even more than he already was by seeing Aerith with Cloud some more.

"It's Aerith" he admitted. "I want her to be happy and live a good life, but…"

"But?" Angeal asked him.

"…She's with Cloud now" he said softly as he stared at the ground.

Angeal frowned, and sympathetically placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I just don't know what to do Angeal"

He couldn't do much to begin with, and realizing that made him clenched his fist in anger and stand up.

"This is all ShinRa's fault" he spat.

He should've never joined up with that company in the first place. For so long his eyes had been closed to how corrupt they were, and although he did realize it when he escaped the lab in Nibelheim, it was already to late. If he had never joined SOLDIER, he would still be alive.

"You can't change the past Zack" Angeal told him. "You can only shape the present into the future"

* * *

He wasn't sure if had only been a few days, or perhaps a couple of weeks, but eventually he decided it would be best to check up on his friends just to make sure everything was going well. When he opened his eyes and looked around he saw Aerith kneeling by an alter, her hands clasped in prayer, but then he saw that Cloud was in front of her holding the Buster Sword in his hands tightly as began to bring it down on her.

"What are you doing?" he yelled, eyes widening as he couldn't believe what he was seeing

Thankfully Cloud suddenly snapped out of whatever trance he was in, and backed away from Aerith as he shook his head. It was like something had been controlling him. He sighed in relief, and turned back to Aerith to make sure she was alright. She hadn't appeared to notice what was going on around her since she was so focused, but she opened her eyes and smiled at Cloud.

It was then when the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and his SOLDIER instincts sensed that danger was near. A cold gust of wind blew by from above, so he glanced up. He couldn't see well because of the way the light cast a dark shadow on the figure descending from above, but the sunlight reflected off metallic object that he immediately recognized as Sephiroth's Masamune.

His eyes widened in horror once again as he dove forward to try and push her out of the way, but his panic caused him not to concentrate enough, so he phased right through her, and Masamune pierced her chest as Sephiroth came down.

_No! This isn't happening, you need to live!_

But her blood began to flow from her chest wound, and she fell forward.

"_Hellllo!"_

"_An angel?"_

"_No silly, I'm Aerith"_

"_They're pretty, just like the sky, but not scary at all"_

"_Will I see you again?"_

"_I have twenty three tiny little wishes, but you probably won't remember them all, so I combined them all into one: I want to spend more time with you"_

"Aerith..."

She was gone, she was really gone. She would no long talk or cry, or even get angry. She would join with the lifestream like everyone else, but that's not what he wanted. He wanted her to live. He barely was aware of the battle that followed, but he stood by Cloud as he gently carried out her corpse to the lake and let her go, knowing that he probably felt the same way, if not worse.

"It's alright Cloud" he said softly. "I'll take care of her now"

He stayed when the rest of them left, waiting for her spirit to emerge. Angeal did tell him that it took a bit for a soul to leave it's body as it was adsorbed into the lifestream, but he stood there patiently staring down into the water with his hand reaching towards her so that he could pull her out. In a way it was just like what Angeal did for him. Then he felt her hand finally grasp his own, so he lifted her out of the water and met her gaze.

"Zack" she said, sounding rather surprised.

"Hi Aerith"

More than anything he wanted to wrap his arms around and kiss her, to tell her how sorry he was for not making it back, but he kept reminding himself that she was in love with Cloud now.

"I'm sorry" he apologized, dropping her hand knowing it was probably awkward for her. "I tried to make it back, and I did get your last letter, but the army finally caught up with me and I was outnumbered" he explained.

She nodded silently, gently biting her lip.

"Zack...I-

"I know" he interrupted. "You're in love with Cloud now, and he loves you back"

She looked up at him confused, so he decided to explain.

"I've sort of been watching over you guys" he told her, hoping that he didn't sound like a creepy stalker.

"So that really was you..." she said softly, now making Zack the confused one. "I heard you speak a few times, but..."

"You thought you were just hearing things" he guessed, and she nodded.

"I tried to wait for you Zack, I really did"

"Five years is a long time" he said softly. "I can understand why you gave up, but you should know that I never did find someone, and I..."

_Don't say it. _He told himself. _It'll just make things worse for her._

"I respect your feelings for Cloud" he said softly, trying to hide the sadness in his voice. "But I still care about you"

"I...I need some time alone" she told him, lowering her head.

He nodded, expecting it from the beginning, so he left.

* * *

He had explained to her how the lifestream worked, so he wasn't surprised when he saw her watching over Cloud about two weeks later. She tried to smile at him when she saw him, but he could easily tell that it was strained. They still hadn't spoken much, and frankly the whole situation was awkward for both of them.

"How is he?" he asked, causing her face to fall.

"No change"

A few days ago Cloud had accidentally fallen into pure lifestream Mako, and had washed up on Mideel with a severe case of Mako poisoning. Even greater from the one Zack had saved him from before.

"Tifa's taking good care of him though" he observed, glad there was someone to try and help him get better.

He was just worried about what would happen to him, they both were. After all the last time it had happened it had serious messed up his memory, and this time there was the chance that he wouldn't recover at all.

_Tifa, please take care of him...

* * *

_

"Zack!"

It was the next day when Aerith came to him when he was talking to Angeal before he went to check up on Cloud. She paused when she caught up with him, and if it wasn't for her relieved expression he probably would've panicked and guessed that something terrible had happened.

"It's Cloud," she began. "He's awake! AND he has his memory back!"

Since he knew Cloud had told her what he 'remembered' at Nibelheim, so he decided to tell her what really had happened so she wouldn't get confused.

"That's great!"

So with a wave of goodbye to his mentor he left to go see how he was.

* * *

Cloud stared at the Buster Sword for a long time. He just sat there on the airship, staring at all the scratches and dents it had on it as he held it. He couldn't remember any scratches and dents being on it when it was Zack's.

_Zack..._

"_My dreams, my honor...They're yours now. You'll be my living legacy"_

"I don't deserve to be you're living legacy" he said to himself.

"Don't say that!"

He flinched and looked around. He hadn't expected a reply from anyone, especially Zack. He remembered hearing his voice a few times, but then, and even now, he thought he was just going a bit insane. Seeing that there wasn't anyone around.

"Zack?" he asked, wondering if he really was going insane.

"I'm here" he told him, placing a hand on his shoulder so he knew that he was really there. "I came to check up on you"

"Zack..." he whispered. "I'm so sorry. If I had known Aerith was yours I would've tried to stay away, I tried to protect her but-

"Cloud" Zack said, cutting him off. "It's alright, I don't blame you for anything that's happened"

"Aerith..."

"She's alright"

"Is...Is she here too?" he asked softly, hesitating with his words.

He shook his head, but then remembered that he couldn't see him even though he was practically right in front of him.

"Cloud?"

It was Tifa, apparently she had decided to check up on him.

"I'd better go now" he told him. "But we'll check on you soon"

_**Author's Notes**_

Well I don't know about you guys, but here in the Midwest we're in the middle of a blizzard right now (Or according to facebook, SNOWPOCALYPSE!). Sorry it took a little while, but this was a bit longer than the others. I wanted to put the Meteor scene as well, but I was just getting tired of this chapter and wanted to end it. So the next chapter will be the last one (probably around 2000-3000 words) and I should have it up within a week.


	6. VI Everything Will Be Alright

_**VI Everything Will Be Alright**_

"I don't understand Zack" Aerith said softly as they both gazed up at the sky worriedly. "Why isn't Holy coming?"

The wind was blowing strong, and Meteor loomed dangerously close over Midgar. They had watched Cloud and the others defeat Sephiroth, but there were still no signs of Meteor being destroyed.

"I don't know" he answered honestly.

It didn't make any sense, and as he tried to come up with a way to possibly stop it, Meteor just came closer.

"Damn it" he whispered.

Was there no way? Why couldn't they do something? Knowing this was the end, that those in the lifestream would forever perish when the planet was destroyed, he held Aerith close to him, not wanting to let go.

"Zack…" she whispered.

She now understood that Holy was having the opposite effect that it should, that it was drawing Meteor towards the planet faster and increasing it's horrible destructive power. Zack was just about close his eyes and wait for it to be over, not wanting to watch anymore, when Angeal placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We might be able to stop it" he said calmly, now getting their full attention.

"What?" Zack asked. "But how?"

Angeal didn't answer him right away, instead he turned his gaze back to Meteor.

"We may not be alive physically, but we're all still here spiritually, and we can still fight back"

As he spoke he spread his white wings as if he was getting ready to take flight, then to their shock and surprise he actually took off towards Meteor. They saw him materialize into a green stream of light, then he used his energy to fight against it. It wasn't much, but Zack now knew what he had been talking about.

"Aerith, talk to the planet!"

He closed his eyes as he built up the energy inside him and mentally pictured himself moving towards Meteor like Angeal just did. He felt himself lift off the ground, and when he opened his eyes up later he was in a sea of green.

_Yes!  
_

It was working! More and more people in the lifestream were now working together and pushing Meteor back. Holy was also starting to take effect and acting as a barrier against it, dissolving any bits of it that fell through. The planet had been saved, and it had all been thanks to them.

_I guess we still can make a difference, even if we're not alive._

* * *

Two years past, and the world began to get back on its feet again after everything that happened, but there were still things that threatened peace. Geostigma was now threatening the lives of many people, most of them being children, but what worried Zack and Aerith the most was that Cloud had it, and was hiding it from everyone else. Aerith tried to use her powers as a Cetra to try and heal them, but it was like some greater dark force was surpressing her powers and pushing her back. However, she didn't give up, especially since Cloud's life depended on it.

He was also still grieving over her, for her death had been a big blow to him. It hurt both of them to see him like that, and while Tifa kept trying to help him, he just kept pushing everyone away. He wanted to fight alone.

Zack kept looking for a moment to talk to him again, and almost did when Cloud visited his grave, but him having a sudden Geostigma attack stopped him from doing so.

_Why Cloud? _

Why had this happened to him? Why was he acting like this?

* * *

"Do you think I should go and talk to him?" Aerith suggested to him as they watched him drive towards the Forgotten City to confront the remnants and take back all the children they kidnapped.

"Yeah"

It was easy to tell that Cloud was still very much in love with her, and while she had respected that, she realized that she belonged with Zack more than him.

So using her Cetra powers she was able to talk to him with Cloud actually being able to feel her presence and see her there, while Zack continued to watch what was going on. At first, it didn't seem to have an effect on him, for he wasn't able to defeat the remnants in the forest and take back the children, but then as they watched him talk to Vincent, and tell him that he was going to repent for his sins, they both knew there was hope.

"Everything's going to be alright" he told her.

Again Aerith stepped in when everyone else helped Cloud with his final blow to the summon that Kadaj had called, but Zack stayed back quietly and continued to watch. He had faith in him, faith that he would do well without him.

However that faith was crushed in front of him during the fight with Sephiroth. Cloud had put up a good fight, and just when it looked like it was going to be over, Sephiroth suddenly turned the tables on him. Again and again Cloud was stabbed, then thrown back down from the air.

Aerith gasped in horror when she saw how badly he was bleeding, and even Zack knew that he wasn't going to last much longer in this condition. He needed to talk to him, to let him know that he was there.

"Aerith, I need you're help"

So again, she used her powers, but this time for Cloud to see Zack, not herself.

"So what if it looks hopeless?" he asked him as he stood back to back with Cloud holding his Buster Sword. "If it were me, I still wouldn't give up"

He thought back to the day he died, to that last battle with that army of infantrymen. He knew then he wasn't going to be able to live though it, but even then he fought hard and strong holding on to the small thread of hope that he could actually return to Midgar.

"Zack…." Cloud said softly, making him smile slightly.

"Embrace your dreams" he said, repeating Angeal's words as he bowed his head in front of his sword. "And, whatever happens, protect your honor as SOLDIER"

It felt like it had been ages since he had last said that.

" Well, ok, so you never made SOLDIER"

True.

"But it's what's in here that counts" he said as he put his fist to his heart.

Also true.

"Well, you need a hand with him?" he asked, not minding one bit helping Cloud defeating him.

But Cloud shook his head, and gathered his strength to lift his sword and stand up. He was shaking a bit and his breathing was heavy, but he knew that it was working.

"You already beat him once right?" he asked turning towards him, knowing that it was actually technically twice, but that wasn't the point. "This should be a synch"

"Yeah" he said softly.

"You remember what I told you right?" he asked, making sure that he hadn't forgotten.

He nodded.

"I am your living legacy"

He smiled as he faded out of Cloud's sight and took his place next to Aerith, knowing that his job was now done. They watched as Cloud leapt up into the air to finish off Sephiroth with a limit break, which he had to admit was pretty awesome considering he pulled it off with all six of his swords.

He heard Aerith breath a sigh of relief when Cloud landed back on the ground safely and Sephiroth faded away, and was finally able to use her powers to heal those with Geostigma in the area. Rain poured down around Midgar and Edge, and the same water that had healed Cloud, healed most of the others with the terrible disease. She also was able to talk to Kadaj, pretending to be 'mother' so he would finally let go and fade into the lifestream willingly.

Once he was gone, Cid's airship pulled into view, and as Cloud looked up at the sky and closed his eyes Zack picked up Aerith and spun her around happily as they laughed. Things were finally looking up. However, as they held each other affectionately and were just about to kiss a loud gunshot rang out which immediately caught everyone's attention.

Cloud fell to his knees, now bleeding from a chest wound as the two remaining remnants stood behind him, also fading into the lifstream like Kadaj had, but still determined to take Cloud with them.

Aerith gasped at the whole scene, and Zack was just as scared as she was. Cloud stood up and charged at both them, but they weren't able to see what happened due to the explosion from their materia they had used.

"No..."

Neither one of them was going to admit it, but they both knew that it was very unlikely that Cloud would make it through that.

* * *

However, to their hopes, his spirit didn't go to the lifestream, for he was between life and death, a sign that his body was trying to hold on to whatever life was left. They were both relieved as they stood over him as he floated in the vast space of white with his eyes closed, looking very peaceful. When Aerith placed her hand on his forehead, he spoke softly.

"Mother?" he asked.

"Again?" she replied. "Why is everyone calling me their mother lately?"

"I guess they must be fond of you" Zack commented.

"This one's a little two big to adopt" she said, knowing that he was going to live after all.

"Tough luck friend. Sounds like you don't have a place here"

Cloud faded out of their view once more, and they decided to go check up on him once more, just to make sure that he really was going to be alright.

* * *

There was quite a celebration Aerith's old church. Children were jumping in playing down in the pool of water that was now there instead of her flowers, but they would grow back. Cloud stood there in the middle of it all, just looking around at everyone calmly. Zack leaned in the doorway while Aerith stood near by, both waiting for Cloud to see them once more. When he did a look of surprise formed on his face, but he didn't say anything. Aerith said something to him that Zack couldn't quite make out, then began to head towards the door. Seeing that it was time to leave Zack stood up and waved to his friend with a smile, then faded out into the sunlight outside. As he looked back for the final time, he saw Cloud smile, and he knew then that things were going to be alright after all.

~_FIN~_

**_Author's Notes_**

I'm really sorry this took much longer than I said it would. Part of it was block and lack of motivation, and of course when that all went away my computer got infected AGAIN -_- *Sighs* Three more months 'til laptop...

Anyway, so that's the end of this one, but I'll definitely write more FFVII stuff, and I have at least one more lifestream based fic planned. I know that most of you will agree with me when I said this was way to short, and I know that, but really what more could I do here? I wanted to put the little scene with Cloud and Denzel at Zack's Grave and the Buster Sword in the church, but I didn't think I could squeeze it in. So, in short, I hope you liked it, and please review ^_^


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